McDermott: All about the maul
Daire Walsh
Ireland women’s second-row Aoife McDermott has acknowledged the need to counteract the formidable English maul when the two nations meet in the Six Nations Championship tomorrow.
The Red Rose had considerable joy in this department when the two sides met at the Ricoh Arena in last year’s competition – Adam Griggs’ Irish side eventually falling to a comprehensive 33-11 defeat.
It was also a powerful weapon when England triumphed by the same margin in a Twickenham test last November (37-15), prompting Ireland to zone in on this area during their recent training camps.
“It’s something that they love to run and that they will try and do against us. We’re quite aware of it, so we’ve been practicing in camp our tactics around trying to upset that. It’s definitely something we’re aware of,” McDermott explained on Tuesday.
A debutant in the 2018 Six Nations – she was an 11th-hour replacement for Nichola Fryday in the round-three victory against Wales – McDermott will pick up her sixth consecutive Irish cap tomorrow evening.
Though she still encounters some pre-game nerves, the former UL Huskies basketball star has become a calming influence in the Irish pack.
“I’ll probably be a bit nervous the morning of the game. We’ll have a team walk-through and that will kind of settle me a bit. Once the warm-up starts there’s no time for nerves then.
“It comes with the experience. The more often I play there, the more experience I get. For me, it’s about making sure I have all the preparations done.
“I’ll spend the rest of the week looking at the English lineout and scouting it, learn them and try and disrupt as many of theirs as we can. And then when we’re in camp, that we’d rep out our own and be sharp and as clinical as possible. If we’ve all that done, there’s not too much to be nervous about.”
Given she only took up rugby in 2016, the Sligo native has enjoyed a remarkable rise into the senior international ranks.
In addition to establishing herself as Ireland’s primary target at line-outs, McDermott was vice-captain for Leinster’s interprovincial title success last September.
Nevertheless, she freely admits there is a lot of room for her game to develop. Ireland scrum coach Mike Ross will be a big help in this regard, but she has also gained considerable insight from former international stalwart Marie-Louise Reilly.
“She’s a wealth of knowledge… I definitely learnt a lot from her and it’s somewhere that I’d like to aspire to get to,” McDermott said.